


watching the sky (miles and miles between us)

by misura



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: M/M, Oblivious Bard the Bowman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-19 14:36:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22712362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: In which Bard fails at star-gazing while trying really hard.
Relationships: Bard the Bowman/Thranduil
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	watching the sky (miles and miles between us)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Small_Hobbit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/gifts).



The invitation had arrived by singer-with-accompanying-musicians, said singer somehow taking the better part of an hour to convey that the stars were supposedly going to be especially lovely three nights from now, and would Bard care to attend?

(It was phrased much more flowery, of course, but Bard had stood there, beginning to feel the cold and slightly resenting the Elves for not seeming to feel any discomfort in spite of being not at all dressed for winter, firmly stepping on an impulse to say something like, 'you couldn't have sent me a note?' or, even more heinously, 'you couldn't have said that in thirty seconds'?)

He'd reminded himself that this was Thranduil and these were Elves, and most of the time, Bard quite liked Elves in general and Thranduil in particular.

And so instead of saying 'yes', he'd made an effort of saying how very honored he felt and how pleased he would be to attend and how much he would be looking forward to it - a mistake, it turned out, because then the Elves seemed to feel obliged to give as good as they'd gotten, and so there'd been another half hour of poetry and flute-playing.

Happily, then they'd left, leaving Bard to contemplate the type of problems he'd never imagined he might have, such as what he was supposed to wear.

The stars _were_ lovely, Bard was willing to admit.

He'd arrived a little early, judging by the lack of other people around, but Thranduil hadn't seemed to mind, pouring Bard some excellent wine with his own hands.

The stars also were, Bard judged, unlikely to significantly change over the course of the next few hours. That might become a problem. Bard had intended to rest up in advance, but he was a busy man nowadays, (well, possibly that hadn't been that much of a change) and the prospect of having to look utterly enraptured by the stars for the rest of the night was ... a little daunting.

Right now, the prospect of falling asleep and needing to face Thranduil's wrath, after, was still a little more daunting, but Bard wasn't sure how long that would last. The wine, while excellent, certainly wasn't helping.

"You seem enraptured," Thranduil murmured, standing rather close - probably to present Bard with his choice of star-watching vegetable snack.

"They are very beautiful, my lord," Bard said. He'd never used the word 'enraptured' in his life, and didn't think he was about to start now.

"They?" Thranduil asked.

"The stars?" Bard tried, wondering if he was committing a diplomatic faux pas here after all. He didn't quite see what could be offensive about referring to stars as stars, but, well. Elves were Elves.

"Ah." Thranduil smiled. "Yes. Of course."

Bard breathed a bit easier, though now he felt uncertain whether or not he should go back to looking at the stars (supposedly the point of this evening) or should continue to look at Thranduil, who was, to be honest, a lot more interesting.

The stars seemed less likely to get him into trouble. On the other hand, chances to look his fill at Thranduil were rare.

"I did not mean to distract you," Thranduil said.

_Any man would be distracted by someone like you standing as close to them as you to me,_ Bard thought. "My apologies," was what he said, dutifully having another go at looking at the stars.

Still lovely. Maybe that one over there had moved slightly or burned a little brighter than before?

Next to him Thranduil sighed, probably in admiration or, beg pardon, 'enraptured' by the sight of the stars.

Bard determinedly didn't turn his head, a heroic exercise in restraint for which he was rewarded by having Thranduil come a little closer, until they were almost touching.

He still did not hear anyone else, which probably meant one wasn't supposed to talk during this sort of thing. Which might be as well, given that Bard had no idea what might come out of his mouth at this point - or rather, he had a fairly good idea, and it would not end well.

"What do you see up there, I wonder," Thranduil said. "Whatever it is, it seems to hold your attention very firmly."

Bard decided that was probably Elvish (or maybe diplomatic) for: talk to me, I'm bored. Which felt fair, except that if _Thranduil_ thought looking at stars was boring, Bard didn't know why he'd invited Bard in the first place.

"Perhaps I only look up there to keep myself from being blinded by the radiance of what is down here," Bard said. He'd _definitely_ had too much wine, he realized. "My lord."

"Radiance, did you say?" Thranduil sounded pleased. A hopeful sign.

Still, Bard figured he should probably quit while he was ahead. "Forgive me if I have offended. The wine - "

"Perhaps another glass?" Thranduil said.

"I might end up declaring you my undying love." A bit too late, Bard realized he hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Definitely another glass, then," Thranduil said. The expression on his face suggested - a great many things, most of which were almost certainly Bard's imagination.

Except - except that Thranduil did seem sincere, and not at all offended by Bard's words, and, in fact, rather more eager to hear more than to resume their silent star-gazing.

"My lord," Bard said, with no idea of how to proceed.

Happily, Thranduil seemed to have the excellent idea of kissing him then, which both served to restore him to a state of wakefulness and made him decide to definitely accept the next invitation that might come, be it for star-gazing or tree-studying or anything at all.


End file.
